13 Jan Planning is the key to a successful exit
Advanced planning usually makes the difference between a successful exit and something less than satisfactory for the owner. The best practice is to make a long-term plan to exit or sell your business, using the same discipline that you use to manage your strategic plan and your budget. Your business is usually your largest asset and you are investing major time and money into it. Therefore most owners would agree with the statement that they need an exit plan to ensure they get a decent return on their investment, yet up to 90% of owners don’t have one. Not having a plan increases the risk is that you will sell your business for less than you want or need. If you set a target value and work towards that goal, the more likely that you’ll achieve full value from your business.
If you have business partners your plan may be more complicated. What if you aren’t close to the same age as your partners, or you have different career or retirement goals and timelines? An easy solution would be for the younger partner to buy out the older partner, but often they don’t have the cash so then you’ll need to agree on some type of multi-year arrangement such as an earn-out or financing.
